Lefortovo Prison near Moscow, where South Korean Baek Mo-ha was detained after being arrested by Russian authorities on suspicion of espionage. It was used as an interrogation center by the secret police and later the KGB during Stalin's Great Purge in the 1930s.

Russian intelligence authorities arrested South Korean citizen Mr. Baek on suspicion of espionage. Baek was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Vladivostok in January and transferred to the Lefortovo detention center near Moscow a month later. The Russian government notified the South Korean government last month and made it public on March 11 via TASS, Russia’s state-run news agency. Baek has been involved in missionary work and support for North Korean defectors, mainly in Russia's Far East, Yonhap News Agency reported.

It is difficult to tell from Russian media reports what kind of espionage work he did. Baek has run a travel agency in Vladivostok since 2020 and is suspected of stealing state secrets and delivering them to a foreign intelligence agency, according to a news report. It is unclear what kind of state secrets they are or which country’s intelligence agency it is. However, given the circumstances, it can be assumed that this case is not just a foreign criminal case. This is the first time that a South Korean has been arrested as a spy in Russia. The Russian government notified South Korea a month after Baek's arrest and made it public another month later. It is possible that Russia was trying to express some kind of dissatisfaction with the South Korean government. Relations between South Korea and Russia have deteriorated rapidly since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. South Korea has joined Western sanctions against Russia, and Russia has designated South Korea as an unfriendly country. When South Korea announced the expansion of export control items to Russia late last year, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry strongly protested and said it could take "asymmetric countermeasures" against South Korea.

If Baek's support activities for North Korean defectors were the cause, as some observed, it is also worrisome. Unlike China, Russia has been cooperative with South Korea on the North Korean defector issue. However, as North Korea-Russia ties have become closer since the war in Ukraine, it may have tightened its crackdown on North Korean defectors in response to Pyongyang's request. In any way, it is an event that is bound to turn into a diplomatic issue.

The country is responsible for protecting the lives and safety of its citizens. As such, the South Korean government should find ways to ensure Baek's well-being, including consultation with a lawyer. The detention center where Baek is being held has been notorious for its harsh interrogations of political prisoners since the Stalinist era. The government should demand Russia to comply with international human rights norms for prisoners. Above all, I hope that this incident will be solved smoothly so that it does not become another conflict and negative factor in the Korea-Russia relationship.